Alone in the Pacific on the upturned hull of my boat

One day, when Tom Robinson was 14 years old, he woke up, looked in the mirror and made a decision that would dictate the course of his life – that he would become the youngest person to row across the Pacific Ocean. He trained as a boat builder, taught himself design and handcrafted his boat from scratch. He named her Maiwar after the local indigenous name for the Brisbane River which he rowed on every day to travel to and from school.

In 2022, aged 23, Tom set off from Peru. The subsequent 14 months involved blissful solitude, broken only by a warm welcome on one of the world's most remote islands, flying fish that landed in his lap and passing turtles. Tom was in his element. And then came the freak wave that left him standed on the upturned hull of his boat for hours, with no idea of when, or even if, rescue would come.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Emily Naylor

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(Photo: Tom Robinson in his boat, Maiwar, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It's cloudy with blue skies and the sun is setting. Credit: Tom Robinson)